Screenshots
Watch trailer on Steam ↗Die for the Rat King
Pixlas · Published by Pixlas
Last updated 28 Sept 2026
Reclaim the Rat King’s realm in this dice-driven deckbuilder. Forge your dice, empower your rings, and find your best combos as you descend into a monster-infested underground.
RPG, Strategy · 2026 · More free games
About this game
Die for the Rat King is a hand-drawn roguelike where dice-driven deckbuilding meets dungeon crawling, exploration and monster battles.
The underground wasn't always infested with monsters. Appointed by the Rat King, you are tasked to defeat the horrors and reclaim the depths. Your arsenal of dice, rings and items might seem weak, but with the right upgrades and the smartest combos, you have a fighting chance. The Rat King will provide you some, but expecting you to fail, he is hoarding resources for his next champion. To truly survive, you’ll have to scavenge the rest from the shadows yourself.
Dice-based deck-building action
Forge your dice for winning strategies: Upgrade faces, pips and shapes. Can a coin be used as a die? Why not?
Collect and enhance rings to rewrite the rules. Need a 1 to count as a 6? With the right ring, it can.
Find the best synergies to win the game.
Explore the depths
Randomly generated dungeons packed with monsters and secrets to discover.
Take risks and get rewarded with upgrades, items and resources necessary to survive.
Make sure to explore and find all opportunities to get stronger on each floor, because it won't be any easier further down.
System Requirements
Will my PC run this? →Minimum
- OS *: Windows 7 SP1+
- Processor: Dual Core 2.0 GHz
- Memory: 2 GB RAM
- Graphics: Graphics card with OpenGL 3.3 or Vulkan support (Integrated graphics are fine)
- Storage: 150 MB available space
Supported Languages
*languages with full audio support
Latest news
Patch NotesOfficial
Demo Update!
A new demo update is live today! I've probably forgotten half the changes in this release, but I've listed the main highlights below. Give it a spin, and as always, let me know what you think here or in our Discord!New feature: Enemy type specific "Quirks" such as heal and double attack.New feature: Speech bubbles!New enemy: Pindle!New GFX: Added new enemy sprites and states, cleaned up some of the art, plus a nicer dashed line around dice.Update: Completely rewritten maze generator with automatic level validation (no more locked gates without keys!). Note: The new rules might have thrown the balance off a bit again. Update: Implemented new anti-stacking prevention for dice throws.Update: Void numbers can now contribute to hands! For example, if 4 is void, 2-3-4-5 still counts as a small straight (though the 4 itself isn't counted in the score).Update: Grave doesn't steal rerolls anymore, but has 2x HP compared to before.Bug fix: Fixed invisible dice.Bug fix: Resolved performance issues by removing unnecessary updates on tick.Read full article on Community Announcements (infinitemonkey)Patch NotesOfficial
Demo Update Packed with Fresh Stuff. Including a Puppy!
I've worked hard on updating the demo over the last few weeks, and here are some of the highlights! A lot of these changes originate from community ideas. Join our Discord to participate! ChangesNew Event: Puppy. Petting it might reward you (or hurt you). New Event: Trader. Buy and trade stuff.New Event: Wise Turtle. Spend your XP more wisely, and make sacrifices for knowledge. New Event: Well. Sacrifice something and get something back (maybe).Feat: The random upgrades are now weighted exponentially based on their levels. A level 2 upgrade is now about twice as likely to be picked compared to a level 3 upgrade, etc. This is to prevent scaling just one hand type too easily.Feat: The Scholar is now in the game as an event! Get less XP demanding upgrades!Feat: Telemetry added (toggleable in settings). Feat: Rat King's shop updates (honestly, I don't even remember everything I did here.Feat: The dice miniatures are now renderings of the dice faces instead of UI boxes with color. Much easier to read!Feat: Alternative walk controls (QWEASD). Doesn't feel right so I might remove this again if I cant improve upon it.New SFX: The puppy have three sounds (also moved the button to not block the puppy)New GFX: Added map icons for hard, elite and boss enemies instead of using same icon for all.Modified: Map generation now prevent inaccessible areas and there is always something useful behind a locked gate.Modified: Both the base hand powers and hand upgrades have been nerfed to avoid scaling going completely bananas.Modified: The Equality Ring has been nerfed. It now uses the geometric mean instead of the regular mean. If it's 1x16 before the ring, it becomes 4x4 after (which has the same result). It always rounds up, so a 1x17 becomes a 5x5. The ring really shines if you equip subsequent accuracy multipliers!Bug fix: Rings disabled in build did show in the stats page.Bug fix: Hammering buttons in the turtle event could crash the game.Bug fix: Version number didn't show.Bug fix...Read full article on Community Announcements (Pixlas)AnnouncementsOfficial
Updates to loot and more
Hi all! The demo has been out for two days and I have received some feedback. Todays update:Hard and Elite enemies may carry loot including keys to open locked gates.Bosses always drop a ring or a die.Graves now appear more frequently.Some UI and VFX fixes for loot.Windowed mode improved.If you have feedback, please let me know and I try to make an additional new update tomorrow. I know the game became a bit on the easier side with recent tweaks, which might be ok for a quick impression of the game without dying early. Should I make it harder? What would you suggest get tweaked first?Read full article on Community Announcements (Pixlas)Patch NotesOfficial
Demo Released + Pledge to Update
Today I released the first demo of Die for the Rat King. I've worked around the clock for the last 72 hours to get a first build that can represent the vision. I estimate I've done about a fourth of the development for a full release, so expect bugs, a lack of content and, above all, balancing issues.Why did I release it this early? I think it's time for feedback and to start building a community. This is not the kind of game that should be built behind locked doors. The invite to Discord never expires for anyone who wants to be part of building a great game.With this, I also pledge that I will update the game daily for at least the first week! Not only bug fixes, but hopefully the implementation of additional ideas, features I have disabled, and tweaks to the balance.Read full article on Community Announcements (Pixlas)AnnouncementsOfficial
WIP Video: Attacked by a Mimic!
Celebrating one week on Steam!One month ago, it would have seemed impossible to have a Steam page up by now. But I decided to set a deadline and go with whatever I had. And I did! Even though there are still glitches in the teaser video (score appearing in the top left corner, shadow effects not working, etc.) and the page overall is still a work in progress.I'm so happy to see the growing number of wishlists! I'm working hard on the game and hope to have more to show you soon. My goal is to have a demo released by the beginning of May.Below is a short video from the current build, featuring a Mimic I drew a few days ago.Read full article on Community Announcements (Pixlas)
